Fatherly Thoughts: 'Bye bye' to a blessed year ...

As 2009 closes out, I've been reflecting on what this year -- and being new parents -- has meant to your mother and I. It's been a blessed year ... or a blessed blur.

Laura, you've literally transformed before our eyes. You've gone from a spiky-haired ball of wonder to a pony-tailed, bright-eyed little princess with bows to match every outfit.

It's gone by fast ... but I can honestly say not too fast.

I believe your mother and I have savored absolutely every moment ... every bedtime, every story, dinners at the table, bath times and even those diaper changes. Oh, bring on that potty training! Yea, we're still trying to be patient while waiting on that stage to arrive.

We're enjoying it all.

As I've mentioned before, we missed the first six months of your life while you were in the orphanage. We wish we could have those months back. Still, we're thankful for the months that God has blessed us with.

Your personality is really shining through ... Your mother and I love to watch you dance and clap to the beat of the music (a little off most of the time, but you're working on it). You love to climb on your mom's lap while she's checking her email and Facebook. You always pull your shoes and socks off as soon as we get you in the car seat. You love to follow us up and down the stairs. You watch me through the glass door while I'm taking out the trash or mowing the grass. You crack us up when you blow kisses and tell people "bye, bye"... strangers, dogs, the mail man, people we see on the street, whoever. You love the attention when all eyes are on you.

You're definitely our little performer. And we love to watch, too. We'll definitely keep watching.

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior! We had a great time with family as we watched Laura enjoy all that is Christmas time. We got about a foot of snow the weekend before Christmas and had a great time playing outside in it. Laura wasn't able to walk in it, but she sure loved going down her slide into a big pile of snow!

A few days later my grandparents and aunt arrived to spend the week. One of the highlights of the week was visiting a few of the houses on our city's "Tacky Lights Tour." This one was definitely one of the most over-the-top houses most of us had ever seen. Laura kept looking out the window, pointing, and saying "oooohhhh!" at all the houses. It kept us all entertained!

One of our annual traditions is going to the Christmas Eve service at my parent's church. This year we had to go to the earlier "kid-friendly" service. It was quite different than the reflective, worshipful service we are all used to, but Laura had fun coloring and singing the Christmas carols and Shawn and I had fun since we didn't have to worry about the noise she was making. She seemed quiet compared to most of the other children in the service!

Christmas morning was so much fun! Laura's big present was a kitchen from Nana and Granddad. She was so excited when she saw it and went running into the family room to start playing. For a while we thought we might just take back all of her other presents since she didn't seem to notice anything but the kitchen -- but we ended up letting her open everything. She was just overwhelmed with what to play with next. Never the less, the kitchen is still her favorite toy from Christmas morning.

Christmas morning festivities had to be interrupted for Laura's breathing treatment. She came down with bronchitis a few days before Christmas, but fortunately aside from the cough, she didn't really feel bad. She actually loved the breathing treatments. We told her the mask was a duck and the whole time she is wearing it she looks at us, points at the mask, and says "duck!!" Anything to make it work:)

And of course, as every parent knows, the boxes were almost as much fun as the toys. Laura loved being pulled around in this box. But even this got old and it was back to the kitchen as fast as her little legs could carry her!

Firsts

The last few weeks have been filled with "firsts" for Laura. We will start with December 1st -- the 1st anniversary of the day that Laura joined our family. It has been an amazing year watching Laura grow and learn. We have treasured every minute and to celebrate this special day for our family, we had our 1st Adoption Day Celebration. I cooked some traditional Colombian food and we had some friends and family over to celebrate with us. Laura received her first Colombian gift (a maraca type instrument) that we bought for her while we were in Bogota to mark this special occasion.

Laura was thrilled to be having her picture taken!!

Again -- Laura wasn't exactly cooperating during the photo session:)

The next "first" was just a few days later when Laura started her 1st day of preschool! We were in need of a Friday morning sitter and it turns out a church very close to Shawn's office offers preschool for 18-24 month olds on Friday mornings. She has been twice and cries a little when we drop her off but (according to the teachers) has a great time playing the rest of the morning.

Getting ready to go -- she loves to wear her backpack around the house!

Mommy and Laura sitting on the curb outside her new "school".

Attending Grand Illumination was Laura's next "first". This is a Richmond tradition where all the Christmas lights are lit on the same night. We didn't actually make it in time to see the big event happen, but we did try to get some pictures with the Christmas-light deer. Laura had a nice time watching all the people, but got a little cranky and cold by the time we got back to the car.

Christmas Tea at the Jefferson wrapped up our two weeks of "firsts". My mom, Laura, and I all dressed up to have high tea at a beautiful old hotel here in town. Laura was the Belle of the Ball in her Christmas dress, red coat with black fur lining, and red hat -- and she knew it, too!! She "oohhed" and "aahhed" at all the Christmas decorations and was very well behaved during tea. She tried all the scones, pastries, and sandwiches, but decided she liked the blueberries they brought out for her the best! When I told her it was time to go home she ran away from me and then cried. She knows a good place to stay when she sees one!

The three of us at tea

Laura and Nana sitting on the alligator. The hotel used to have alligators living in their fountain, but fortunately this is the only one left on the premises!!

Family Fun (x2) -- with lots of pics!

In October my mom, Laura and I went to Missouri to visit my grandparents and aunt. Here are some of the pictures from that trip:

Laura with her Nana, Great Aunt Mary, Great Grandma Virginia, and Great Grandpa Bob

Laura walking toward Nana in Mommy's house slippers (a common shoe choice)

Great Grandpa Bob and Laura absolutely cracking up about something!

Yummy, spaghetti...can we have this every night?

While in Missouri, my college roommate and her husband came up to visit and to meet Laura. We had a great time visiting -- and Laura warmed right up to them!

For Thanksgiving we went to visit Shawn's mom in Missouri. Shawn's sisters and their families were also there -- meaning lots of cousins for Laura to play with. We had a really nice time and were able to visit some really fun places. Enjoy the pictures...

The kids playing the piano -- an activity that provided hours of fun!

A hair-raising experience at The Magic House (the St. Louis children's museum)

Playing in the sand with Dad

Having a grand time with the water toys

An unsuccessful attempt at a family picture -- but I thought it was cute anyway!
Most of the grandkids with MeMa

Shawn, his sisters, and his mom

A year of travel ...

As a writer I have the blessing of being able to travel around the world to tell stories about what God is doing. This year I was able to go to India and Zambia. Anytime I go overseas, I'm always overwhelmed with interesting stories and wonderful people. In the early spring, I traveled along the eastern coast of India to write about how the country is doing since it was hit by the tsunami in 2004. Last week, I returned from writing about the AIDS pandemic in Zambia and how lives are being impacted by the ministry out there. Here are some pics from these trips. The last two were taken by a photographer I call "Joneseebaba"... one of the tremendous shooters I get to work with on the field. Enjoy.

One of the odd things about India is the random cows you will pass along the road. Because cows are believed by Hindus to be their ancestors, they pretty much go wherever they want and eat just about whatever they run into along the way.

The people of Zambia are amazing and usually very photogenic. The look on this little girl's face -- one of wonder and suspicion -- is priceless.

Ok, I have a confession to make. I just about knocked this woman over .... on accident. Our team was in a dump in Lusaka, interviewing some of the street kids when this woman with a tremendous load was walking by. I couldn't help but wonder how much it weighed. So I decided to put my hand under the sack and press up. When the woman started yelling "Oh, Oh, Oh," I quickly decided that wasn't such a good idea. Fortunately, she recovered nicely... and I didn't get beat up. Oh the joys of travel and curiosity. By the way ... the woman mentioned she would sell the goods she carried for about $1.

Halloween and Shopping Carts

We have had a very exciting week -- first Laura got a stomach bug, then I got a stomach bug, then my mom got a stomach bug, then we had Halloween (party and trick-or-treating), and then Shawn got a stomach bug! Fortunately, we have all survived and here are the pictures to prove it!

Laura all ready to go out trick-or-treating.

She didn't really like pumpkin carving too much:)

Walking up to our second house (we only went to three -- I figured that was enough since she wasn't really going to eat the candy anyway!)

The three of us all dressed up for the Halloween Party (the bug, the bee, and the bug-catcher!)

Laura also got a little fun money in the mail this week and we bought her a new shopping cart. She has had more fun playing with that this week than any toy she has received in quite a while! (She found the hat Shawn wore the night before at the party and decided it was a necessary accessory for her shopping trip:)

A little bit of this and that ...

Laura and I went to Missouri earlier this month to visit family, but unfortunately we don't have any pictures from that trip yet. So for now, I'll just post some pics of our recent fun times.

Several weeks ago, our Sunday School class had an outdoor get-together with a candy hunt and lots of playing around for the kids. Here are a few of our favorites from that evening:

We have been spending a lot of our Sunday afternoons watching football (Go Steelers!!) and we snapped this pic of Laura chillin' one day...we thought it was too cute:)

One of my friends and I have started a babysitting swap, where I watch her daughter (Cora) on Mondays and she watches Laura on Thursdays while we each work. It is working out very well and Laura just loves Cora! She gives her lots of kisses and hugs. We are still working on sharing the toys, especially since Laura's new favorite word is "MINE!!"

We have gotten out several of Laura's old toys for Cora to play with and Laura has claimed these toys as "MINE", too. If she can't fit in them (as proven by the picture below) she uses them for her baby dolls. Fortunately, Cora is too little to mind right now, but as they get older they will get very good at sharing -- hopefully!

Fatherly thoughts: A weekend without my girls

I was recently able to "live the dream" ... a long weekend with the house all to myself.

Stephanie, her mother and Laura headed off to visit relatives out of town. I wasn't able to make the trip, so I had the weekend all planned out ... football, food, and well, not much else.

I had the guys over for one evening of playing RISK (a war game that most women ... at least the ones that I know ... just don’t get) and spent the rest of the time hanging out watching my teams mix it up on the gridiron.

It was fun and relaxing … except for the neighbor dog (a stupid Boxer with a bad attitude and an even worse owner who won’t keep him pinned up). On that Saturday the dog tried to attack me while I was minding my own business in my yard. Let’s just say he learned a valuable lesson that day – don’t mess with a man and his weed eater ... especially while it's running. Don't worry animal lovers, the dog survived ... unfortunately.

Anyway, other than that, it was a good weekend. I was able to sleep late, eat just about any combination of food I could find in the fridge ... and overall move at a leisurely pace. I even had a chance to hang out one afternoon with Steph's father, grill up some hotdogs … and watch more football, of course.

But it didn't take long for me to miss the two most important women in my life.

I was more than ready to pick them up at the airport. Of course, Laura looked like she had gotten a little taller, and was looking more and more like a little girl than a toddler. I also missed Stephanie and all of the special things she does every day to take care of Laura and I.

It was good to be reminded that I’m one lucky guy ... and especially thankful my wife likes football.

A Pickle in the Pumpkin Patch

Shawn affectionately calls Laura many nicknames that include the word pickle -- sweet pickle, sour pickle, pickle-pop, and many, many others. We took Laura on Saturday to a local farm for a hayride to the pumpkin patch, a corn maze, lots of animals, and a children's play area. Laura seemed to have a good time -- she talked a lot and pointed to things. The only thing that made us think maybe she wasn't having a good time is the fact that she didn't smile the whole time we were there. Not one single smile. The whole time we were there. That led us to calling her our little sour pickle in the pumpkin patch! Enjoy the pictures...